We need to run a tough GWC™ evaluation on our long-time VP of Operations who has helped us scale but is clearly hitting her ceiling. My leadership team is avoiding this because they are afraid of ruining a deep personal friendship. How do we build the necessary trust and vulnerability to handle this right-person-right-seat call with absolute transparency?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Conducting a GWC™ evaluation on a close personal friend is incredibly difficult, but avoiding it is a form of self-absorption that prioritizes your temporary comfort over the health of the company. To handle this, you must build real, vulnerable trust within your leadership team.

Start by adopting an other-focused mindset, as outlined in Charles H. Green's trust framework. Realize that keeping your VP of Operations in a seat where she is struggling and constantly stressed is not an act of friendship. It is actually damaging her professional reputation and her mental well-being.

Schedule a private, honest conversation. Use the Trust Creation Process: engage her directly, listen without defense, frame the problem objectively, envision a better future, and commit to a joint solution. Share your observations about the complexity of the scaling business and ask her how she feels about the workload.

Be vulnerable. Admit that the business has evolved and that the capacity required for the seat has changed. Run the GWC™ evaluation together, with absolute transparency. If she lacks the capacity to manage the scaled operations, work together to find a seat where her core values and skills align, or help her transition to a new opportunity outside the company with dignity and respect.